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Daryl M.

Librarian


Posts by Daryl M.

  • Cassandra Lane and her debut novel, We Are Bridges

    Interview With an Author: Cassandra Lane

    Cassandra Lane is the winner of the Louise Meriwether First Book Prize and Editor-in-Chief of L.A. Parent Magazine. She previously worked as a newspaper staff reporter and received an MFA in creative…

  • Author Samantha Silva and her latest novel, Love and Fury: A Novel of Mary Wollstonecraft

    Interview With an Author: Samantha Silva

    Samantha Silva is the author of the novel, Mr. Dickens and His Carol, and a screenwriter who has sold projects to Paramount, Universal, and New Line Cinema. She lives in Boise, Idaho. Her new novel is…

  • Author JJA Harwood and her debut novel, The Shadow in the Glass

    Interview With an Author: JJA Harwood

    JJA Harwood is an author, editor, and blogger. She grew up in Norfolk, read History at the University of Warwick, and eventually found her way to London, which is still something of a shock for…

  • Author Ryan La Sala and his latest novel, Be Dazzled

    Interview With an Author: Ryan La Sala

    Ryan La Sala grew up in Connecticut, but only physically. Mentally, he spent most of his childhood in the worlds of Sailor Moon and Xena: Warrior Princess, which perhaps explains all the twirling. He…

  • Author Kathryn Harkup and her latest book, Vampirology

    Interview With an Author: Dr. Kathryn Harkup

    Kathryn Harkup is a chemist and author. Kathryn completed a doctorate on her favorite chemicals, phosphines, and went on to further postdoctoral research before realizing that talking, writing, and…

  • Author P. Djeli Clark and his novel, A Master of Djinn

    Interview With an Author: P. Djeli Clark

    Born in New York and raised mostly in Houston, P. Djeli Clark spent the formative years of his life in the homeland of his parents, Trinidad and Tobago. A Hugo and Sturgeon Award finalist, he is the…

  • Author Emiko Jean and her latest novel, Tokyo Ever After

    Interview With an Author: Emiko Jean

    Emiko Jean is the author of Empress of All Seasons and We'll Never Be Apart. She lives in Washington with her husband and two unruly twins. Her latest novel is Tokyo Ever After and she recently talked…

  • Author Susan Penner and her first novel, The Lost Apothecary

    Interview With an Author: Sarah Penner

    Sarah Penner works full-time in finance and is a member of the Historical Novel Society and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. She and her husband live in St. Petersburg, Florida with their…

  • Author Pip Williams and her first novel, The Dictionary of Lost Words

    Interview With an Author: Pip Williams

    Pip Williams was born in London, grew up in Sydney, and now lives in Australia’s Adelaide Hills. She is the author of One Italian Summer, a memoir of her family's travels in search of the good life…


Reviews by Daryl M.

  • Cover image for The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea

    The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea

    • By: Maggie Tokuda-Hall
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    A young noblewoman is betrothed by her parents into an unwanted, arranged marriage. A young pirate struggles to survive and protect his brother from the dangers inherent in the life they have been forced to live. A mermaid is captured and threatened with death because her blood, when drunk, allows...
  • Cover image for Conventionally Yours

    Conventionally Yours

    • By: Annabeth Albert
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    A common theme in novels, motion pictures and television is the fine line between love and hate. One only has to look at William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew (or it’s modern reincarnation 1999’s Ten Things I Hate About You) for an example of supposed loathing turning to love...
  • Cover image for Under the Rainbow

    Under the Rainbow

    • By: Celia Laskey
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    In a recent survey, the small town of Big Burr, Kansas has earned the title of “most homophobic town in the U.S.”  The non-profit that conducted the survey, Acceptance Across America (AAA), determines that the appropriate response to their findings is to send a task force to Big Burr. They...
  • Cover image for Upright Women Wanted

    Upright Women Wanted

    • By: Gailey, Sarah
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    Esther just watched her best friend die. Beatriz was found to be in possession of “inappropriate” materials, and for that she was hanged in the town square. Esther’s father spoke from the podium about the dangers of “deviance” all the while keeping his eyes locked on Esther.  Beatriz’s death was a...
  • Cover image for Oona Out of Order

    Oona Out of Order

    • By: Montimore, Margarita
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    Imagine it is New Year’s Eve, 1982. Oona is 18 years old and will be 19 at midnight as the year changes to 1983. She has her whole life ahead of her, including the type of life altering “big decisions” that face everyone at that age. But, when Oona opens...
  • Cover image for Heart of Junk

    Heart of Junk

    • By: Geddes, Luke
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    Hmm, what could the following all have in common: an aging antique mall in Wichita, Kansas, where well established and novice sellers are struggling to keep the doors open in the age of online shopping; a child beauty pageant queen who has mysteriously vanished; and the hosts of a phenomenally...
  • Cover image for Eight Perfect Murders: A Novel

    Eight Perfect Murders: A Novel

    • By: Swanson, Peter
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    The owner of a Boston bookshop specializing in mysteries posts a list of books on the store’s blog. It is entitled “Eight Perfect Murders” and it lists the novels he feels have described unsolvable murders. These are murders in which the killers cannot be connected with their crimes. Years later...
  • Cover image for Ormeshadow

    Ormeshadow

    • By: Sharma, Priya
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    It is often stated that “The meek will inherit the earth.” While that is a nice sentiment, it is not affirmed by history. More often than not, those who hold their tongues and think before speaking, as well as those who avoid confrontation and violence to resolve conflict are the...
  • Cover image for Riot Baby

    Riot Baby

    • By: Onyebuchi, Tochi
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    Ella has what she refers to as her Thing. It allows her to see things that have not yet happened. As a young girl growing up in Compton, California, this is more of a curse than a blessing. Ella is rarely happy by the future she sees. And, as she...
  • Cover image for Made things

    Made things

    • By: Tchaikovsky, Adrian, 1972-
    • Reviewed By: Daryl M.
    Coppelia is not quite a thief and not quite a con-artist. What she is, or could be if she were living a different life, is an artist. A builder who could create function and beauty from raw materials, but only in a different life. A life where her parents hadn’t...